Children and young people in court

The Ministry of Justice provides data to Stats NZ about children (aged 10-13) and young people (aged 14-16) charged in court for official release on the Stats NZ website. In March, we release the calendar year tables (year ending 31 December). In September, we release the financial year tables (year ending 30 June).

Ministry of Justice youth data is presented in two tables on the NZ.Stat tool provided by Stats NZ

Children and young people charged in court - most serious offence - counts of children and young people who appeared in the Youth, District or High Court during a year. For each year, counts of the outcome of their most serious prosecution are available.

Children and young people given an order in court - most serious offence - counts of children and young people given orders or sentences in the Youth, District or High Court during a year. For each year, counts of the most serious order or sentence given are available.

Each of these tables contains information on the age, gender, and ethnicity of the children and young people, and the offence type prosecuted. These tables go back as far as the 1992/1993 financial year.

Convicted young people are included in these statistics

Children and young people who are convicted of an offence in the District or High Court are included in the statistics on children and young people in court, as well as those whose charges are proved in the Youth Court. Including these convicted children and young people in the statistics provides a clearer picture of what is happening for all youth offenders, rather than just those who appear in the Youth Court.

Numbers are randomly-rounded

All numbers in the statistics on children and young people in court are rounded to the nearest multiple of three, with the exception of zeroes, which remain as zeroes. The Youth Court is closed to the public, so any details that may identify an individual young person cannot be reported.